"Joseph Meehan" wrote:

Tony Pacc wrote:
Did anybody ever use those pads instead of a roller for painting,I
thought maybe it would eliminate splatter,if so how did it turn
out.I'm thinking on trying one with latex paint for the ceiling.TIA

I have used them. They are slower than a roller, but if you want a nice
smooth surface without the orange peel effect of a roller (even a short nap
roller) they may be what you want.

Aaargh! I can't believe the replies in this thread. JM above is the
only one who IMO correctly states why you should NEVER use a roller.
Unless of course you're a NYC landlord, or a commercial establishment,
or you just plain don't care about the finish.

Twenty years ago, horrified by the orange peel or stippled finish on
my kitchen walls which had resulted from the use of a roller (or
several), I turned to paint pads. Almost as good as a brush. Then,
lulled into a sense of security by the ads and reasoning that they
must have made some technological improvements in the rollers, a
couple of years ago I used one of those small ones on the brand new
slab back door. This type of roller, available in HD, actually boasts
as to the smoothness of the finish. BS! Orange peel all over and very
low coverage. I ended up finishing the job with a three inch Purdy.

Being a sucker for punishment, this year I listened to my son who
mocked my use of the paint pad telling me that real men use rollers
and did the ceiling of a bedroom with a roller. Arggh! Horrible.
Fortunately it's ten feet in the air and no one will notice. For the
walls I reverted to an efficient high quality spreader: a paint pad.
Oh yeah as to clean-up, I'm still removing the roller spatter (a fine
mist) from the baseboard, floor, door... It probably would have been
cleaner to use a sprayer.

It seems you are looking for less bother and clean up, and I would say,
no. You may have a little less splatter (you don't get that with a roller
unless you are using poor rollers and or rolling too fast), but likely will
have more drips and will take more time.

More time is true. And you need to thin the paint a little so that it
doesn't dry before you can blend it into the next section.

The problem today is that most people live in hovels and can't afford
to take a room out of service for the required time which is...
Presuming the walls in 100% perfect shape: Primer, let dry one day
(ignore the directions and no cheating: 24 hours!); first color coat,
let dry one day; second color coat, let dry three days; then
re-install switchplates, light fixtures, cove molding around windows,
doors, and baseboards, etc. (you have removed all these things I
hope). It is impossible to make a one-coat-covers-all paint despite
the heroic attempts of the mfgs. All they do is reduce the
self-leveling effect.